I think mom and dad should have practiced what they were going to say a little more. I mean, really… you are on national television – prepare. I was cringing the whole way through. I’m embarrassed for them. What was their point, again?
It wasn’t meant for people to see? What? Of course it was meant for people to see. It was a dance competition ( as the mom repeatedly reminds us). How can it be taken out of context? A home video shot in your living room can be taken out of context. A public venue is for.. uh… public viewing.

i feel sorry for the kids. they have parents who lack a full complement of brain cells. there are too many contradictions in the parents’ interview to even get into, but the bottom line is that eight and nine year old kids should not be performing sexually charged dance routines nor should they be wearing sexy costumes. children grow up fast enough. this type of thing only quickens the pace.

LOL @ George Stephanopoulos saying He can’t stop watching this. Did he even realize what he said?!

Well that’s six minutes of my life I’ll never get back. What a pair of fucking idiots.

It is both. It is the costumes. It is the moves.

And more than anything, it is the crazy adults.

These kids were coached to move in a way that implies and emphasizes sexuality.

They were then dressed in outfits that are not only skimpy but emphasize secondary sexual characteristics….which SEVEN AND EIGHT YEAR OLDS SHOULD NOT EVEN POSESS…let alone emphasize to great applause.

Those moves are straight out of cardio strip-tease.

The costume tanga pants belong on a float at Carnaval.

The fact that many or even all of the girls are unaware of what is being done to them does not make it any better…perhaps it may even make it worse. This is so over-the-top wrong that I can’t really draw those fine distinctions at the moment.

I see nothing wrong with young children wearing bikinis (to the pool). There is nothing sexual about a child’s body. It isn’t the skin that is the issue to me but rather the way they are “decorated”.

That said, you can easily “see the lines” of dance in a bodysuit.

But this was a child’s body done up to look like and coached to move like a woman’s.

Not. Cool.

This is so disturbing. I do not think the girls made up those moves on their own. They only scrream one thing – something they shouldn ot need to know about yet. I have more to say, but I think I will go talk to my 3 year old girl about Elmo now and maybeplay in the spronkler with her 1 piece suit! Sorry – it’s just too much!

I definitely don’t want to shame the little girls. It’s not their fault. To me this is completely abusive to them and they are the victims here. They’ve been exploited and had their bumping and grinding posted all over the Internet.

Talking about “context” is BS because if you don’t want it on the Internet, you don’t do it on a stage where a bunch of people have camcorders aimed at it. I mean der.

They said “They weren’t performing for a worldwide audience.”

Well they are now. Welcome to the Internet.

The fact that this is “completely normal” in dance competitions is the problem. Creating a bogus context for oversexualizing little girls doesn’t make it “okay.”

I used to take dance classes and there are PLENTY of costumes that “allow for movement” that don’t look slutty. And take ballet for instance… that’s not slutty. There are ways to dance and be classy and show off skill and talent.

My mother would never let me take this type of dance lessons until I was in high school. Because it’s just too sexual. I took ballet until it was age appropriate for me. To have allowed me to take dance like this at a younger age would have been abusive and exploitative because I wouldn’t have fully understood what I was doing.

Dancing like this is only empowering if you’re old enough to make the choice to do it and understand your own sexuality enough to express it.

And if dance instructors can’t design competitions in this dance style for little girls that aren’t so sexual, then maybe little girls should stick to ballet.

As for not letting their little girls watch MTV… well good for them, but what diff does it make whether or not they watch it if they are DOING it?

That’s like saying: “I don’t let me kids watch R-rated movies” while they’re unsupervised and having sex in the back of somebody’s car.

These parents are living in denial and need to join us back here in the real world.

brings back the jonbenet ramsey case, a little girl who sadly was very sweet but in studying the situation – there was every indication the little girl was sexually abused but not clear by whom. She had a urinary tract infection and also had problems with bed wetting which are clear symptoms. The girls are excellent dancers but this will definitely prepare them for our highly sexualized society and teach them how to be sexual objects. I understand it is very exciting for all and the parents excuse – that it is a dance competition – how does that make sexualized movement OK. This will excite the perverts and pedophiles too.
Looks like they tried to shut you down on this one Jessica and I can understand your fears and protectiveness about your daughter but she is 11 and is pre teen now. This stuff is very scary.

Where is Social Services? These parents are completely unfit and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Obviously, the children are not the ones who are responsible for this.. what occurs to me is that the choreographer made some really bad choices.. these are children, and the movements they are making, altho technically excellent, are clearly age inappropriate. How is it that the parents were unaware of what the dance routine consisted of? And what the costumes were? Or perhaps they knew, and as they stated, thought it was fine, in context. It’s not fine, in or out of context.
Yes, our world is filled with these kind of images, and yes, women have been taught to use their sexuality in ways that many of us think is degrading and wrong.. that being said, it is a very weak defense to use in terms of children being taught these moves, and dressed in ways that emphasize sexuality.. a two piece bathing suit in a swimming pool, is one thing, but there is no gyrating going on in the pool, or before the kids jump in. It is not relevant to me that the parents were not well spoken.. to me what is relevant, is that they didn’t have the good judgement to see what was being taught, and consider whether it was good, in the long run.
And by the way, I am a former dance teacher.. and let me just say, that it’s not necessary to make a routine sexy to make it art..often, quite the opposite is true.

There is only one reason for such dancing and the practice it requires. The parents and the instructors are hopeing to grab that brass ring. Their children are being raised to sell to the highest bidder in the entertainment world. Providing they perform as per instruction. Then they all can “retire”.
The parents body language is very expressive.
Have you ever heard so may rationalization from a pair of parents trying (without success) to justify an action that is completely wrong on all counts.
Is the dancing on this video one of joy and happiness, or is it one of frenzy and sweat and too much exertion for ones of a tender and still growing age.
Does it reflect what a little girl would normally do?
The business world has created this situation, and has been working overtime to train its “consumers” by every method possible. These traders are succeding quite well – don’t you think , judging from the cheering crowd.
Twenty + unemployment…………What is the future of these very precious little girls to be.
Care to follow Goldman and bet on the down side?
Ever hear of that old saying – “The love of money is the root of all evil?”